


Wake Up

by McAntiLoughlin



Series: Iris [1]
Category: Xiaolin Showdown (Cartoon)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Chase is impressed and has too big a fuckin ego, Clay's pretty chill too, F/M, Fuckin kiss him already you ass, He sings a song about her, Jack Has Issues, Jack low-key likes Clay, Jack's ex is a hoe, M/M, Mental Instability, Omi is one of the only nice ones in this fic, Omi wants Jack to be happy, Panicking, She don leik it, Upset Wuya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-16 09:49:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13051548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McAntiLoughlin/pseuds/McAntiLoughlin
Summary: It's been a year and a half since Jack Spicer has attended a showdown when he's suddenly dragged into one by none other than Chase Young. Normally Jack would be ecstatic about being in the Heylin Prince's presence, but Jack has more important things to focus on now instead of the immortal. Chase doesn't like that...





	1. Breif Note

So this story will have brief character death in this and minor cursing (well minor to me might be major to you cause I curse ALOT). Forgive me for the terrible fighting scenes and bad dialogue. This story has a lot of dialogue and I'm not used to doing that.


	2. Chapter 2

It was dark in the cave he found himself in, causing him to reach out in front of him with his arms to try and feel for something - anything he could get a grip on, so he wouldn’t end up smacking into a wall or possibly slip and fall somehow to his death. 

He could smell something sweet up ahead and see a warm glow. 

He hesitated for a moment before tentatively taking a step forward towards it.

Though he couldn’t quite place the scent, he felt as if he’d smelt it somewhere before. Possibly from when he was a child and his parents both still stayed at home and cared for him? Maybe it was his mother’s old perfume she wore before they stopped selling it in stores?

It seemed like the most likely answer. 

By the time he had made it to the source of both the light and smell – that now that he was closer could tell was a sort of mix between lavender and orange blossom - he could hear the faint sound of a piano playing from an old record player. 

Looking inside the area, he could see a fire place along the far wall, burning a blue-green color. Other candles that lay scattered around the room sat atop whatever was around. Books, side tables, small statues that were quite possibly only up to his knees if he stood next to one. The walls were decorated with large carpets and other fabrics to try and cover the grey of the stone. Paintings of ancient china hung next to them. 

His red eyes trailed along the sides of the three rounded walls until they landed on a plush, red velvet and oak couch in the middle of the room.  


He walked towards the couch, rounding around the corner of it. 

Laying across the couch, thick book in hand, was Chase Young. The Heylin warrior looked back up at him, scowling and narrowing his golden eyes at him.

“Spicer…” he growled. 

Jack let out a squeak, body going rigid and shaking in fear. He could feel himself blushing in embarrassment at being caught.

For what, he didn’t know. 

“What are you doing here worm.”

“I-I I don’t know…” Jack stuttered out, honestly not knowing how he got here or what he was doing. The last thing he remembered was going downstairs to work on fixing one of his damaged Jack-bots. “Last thing I remember was going down to my lab to fix one of my bots…”

“GET OUT!”

~~~

Jack bolted up in his large bed, black and crimson silk pooling to cover his waist and legs as he now sat, heaving and panting for breath. 

Sweat trickled down from his mussed up red hair, matching red eyes wide and practically glowing in fear. A mass stirred from beside him, causing him to turn and face it with a terror-stricken expression still in place. 

He expected Chase Young to rise like the dead from beside him, golden eyes glowing and sharp canines bared in anger. But all Jack Spicer received was a bleary eyed Robo-Jack - RJ as the robotic duplicate was now deemed - sitting up to stare at him in annoyance.

Jack must’ve accidentally woken him up again with another night terror.

RJ let out a sigh. 

RJ let a small smile quirk upwards on his smooth face and folded the sheets back as the robot stood. He walked around to the side where his creator laid, Jack watching him guiltily as he did so. 

“C’mon Jack. You and I both know you’re not getting any more sleep tonight.”

Jack was then led from his overtly large and gothic bedroom, down the staircase to the kitchen/dining room where RJ sat him down at the granite island. He plopped down heavily into the plush, elegant chair like stool. His alabaster arms crossed over themselves as he leaned his well-defined jaw into the pillow that they made. 

A few loud noises from the cabinetry later and RJ returned to him.

A black mug was set in front of his face and he sat back up to bring the steaming cup up to his nose, breathing in the scent of hot chocolate in. 

He sighed deeply. 

This had been happening a lot lately. Even before he had left the showdowns Jack had been having these night terrors. 

Ever since he had been dragged into all the fighting really.

“Was it the monks again?”

The question startled him for a moment before quickly shaking his head no.

“No. It was Chase. Not dragon Chase or good Chase. Just… regular old Chase.” He sighed. “I honestly don’t even know why it scared me so much. All he did was scream at me to get out. Something he always did. But it was- it was different somehow. Like he was startled to see me there or something. I don’t know. It was just weird RJ.”

RJ nodded at this, swirling his cups contents of steaming engine oil and nutmeg. “Normal Chase is still Chase. And we both know he could kill anyone in any form without even really trying. Your fear – to me and anyone who’s seen what Chase can do – is pretty rational.”

“Yeah but- “ 

Jack cut himself off, too tired to try to argue or remember where he was going to go with that thought.

RJ understood this however and didn’t prod. 

It was four in the morning after all. 

He patted Jacks back and walked over into the large living room, turning on the lighting fixture and large plasma HD TV – waking Wuya who had crashed on the couch late last night. She let out a hiss, bare arm coming up to cover her eyes. 

She sat up and glared emerald daggers at the robot.

Wuya growled and then got up to make her way over to where Jack still sat, idly sipping at his mug. The red-headed woman - clad in a black sports bra and gray sweat pants - put her tan and delicate arms around Jacks shoulders, giving him a motherly kiss on top of the head and brushing a hand through his head of hair. 

Her voice was smooth and silky from sleep instead of the harsh whine it usually was when she spoke to Jack. “How’s my Jackie this morning?”

A few weeks after Jack had stopped attending showdowns, Wuya had shown up at his home out of the blue - annoyed and wondering what had happened to her off and on-again student. Jack had been in trouble the night before with his parents after his father found out how much he had been spending of their money on failed inventions. 

Long story short - his father had punched him across the jaw, making his cheek and eye swell and turn a nasty mixture of black, purple, and yellow. Wuya had seen the bruising about Jacks face and instantly began asking questions. 

She knew Jack couldn’t have gotten the bruising from the monks or her or from Chase or from anyone else that attended showdowns. 

“Fine as I can be I guess…” he smiled at her and shrugged.

“Well don’t forget you both have band practice here after school, alright? You all need to practice as much as you can before you perform tonight at the old warehouse.”

“I know Wuya.” 

She gave him a look - trying to judge his weak smile to see if he was okay – and then waltzed over to fix herself some coffee for the morning. 

Wuya really had taken on the motherly role since that incident about a year ago now. Seeing Jack with bruises all over half his face - that hadn’t been caused by the usual suspects - had changed something in her. She started caring about Jack’s health. 

Mental, physical, and emotional. She cared about it all.

Wuya had even suggested – more like forced – Jack go back to school to get a degree for entering the workforce if he was truly serious about being part of normal life. She cared about his grades and how the teachers were treating him and teaching him in class. 

Hell, she cared about whether he was making any friends or being bullied. 

RJ continued to flip through the tv channels in the background to his thoughts until he landed on a local news channel, turning the volume up to a level that was almost too loud for Jack to make sense of. 

He turned in his seat at the counter to face the tv.

An old man with a balding head was on the screen now, and a bowl of cereal was set in front of Jack by Wuya as she headed over to the couch.  


He stood and followed her to join them. 

“We’ve got an hour until we’re supposed to get ready for school.” RJ said, turning the volume down as the weather came on. None of the three really cared about weather all too much, and it looked like it wasn’t going to rain this week, just be cloudy off and on. “You think Markus or Sam are up yet?”

“Markus might be. He tends to stay up reading on full moons since his insomnia acts up like – really badly at this time. Or whenever his dad comes for a visit.” Jack said back, shrugging and shoveling a spoonful of Frosted Flakes into his mouth.

He’d need to eat again before they left in about two hours or so.

“I wouldn’t call him or anything though. He’ll get pissed at you for interrupting him.”

Wuya huffed and crossed her arms, glaring at the screen mounted up on the wall. “That boy - he doesn’t sit right with me Jack. He gives off a certain… vibe. How long have you known him?”

“Since I was like- fourteen? I think. I can’t remember.” He shrugged. “He only gives off a vibe to you because he can’t help it. He was born with it kind of. His dads weren’t the greatest after all you know.”

“What do you mean?”

Now RJ was even interested. 

Or as interested as an android could get at nearly five in the morning on only three hours of recharge at least.

“You know that story about the seven horsemen of the apocalypse?”

“Yes.”

“War and Famine?”

“Where are you going with this?” Wuya asked, frustrated.

“Those are his dads. He’s literally the son of two demons.”

“So- when he said he wore contacts everyday- “

“He was born with purple eyes yeah.”

“And the fake fangs he said he wore for fun?” RJ inquired, raising a brow in curiosity to his human twin.

“Natural. They grew in after he hit puberty.”

“WHY HAVEN’T YOU EVER TOLD US ABOUT THIS!?” Wuya shouted as she suddenly stood from her seat.

He shrugged once more at her. “You guys never really said anything that required me telling you. He does wear contacts for his bad vision if that makes you feel any better. And he does have a pair of fake fangs he used to wear before they grew in.”

But Wuya was already stomping off, hands up in the air in disbelief as she went up the stairs to her room. 

RJ shrugged when he looked over at him, getting up as well and heading back to their shared room to begin getting ready for the day.

~~~

Jack felt he enjoyed school. 

His teachers were nice, no one really bothered him all too much. It was a sort of break from his usual day of just sitting around in his lab and doing practically nothing. 

And okay so maybe that was all a lie.

And maybe his teachers were the kind of idiots who thought they were smarter than him. And maybe the other kids made fun of the way he looked and asked about whether his eyes “are actually natural” – which annoyed him to no end. 

But hey! It was better and more interesting than waiting for a wu to activate and better than having his ass beat ninety-nine percent of the time.  


Jack sighed, reaching his arms back to tighten the black band holding his hair up off his back.

He probably needed to cut it soon.

It was down to his shoulders by now.

A tap on his shoulder made him groan in annoyance and plaster on a fake smile as he turned around.

“Hey Jack! You know the answer to number five?”

He sighed.

Miranda Bell had been doing this sort of thing since he started going to this school. She was known for being a sort of air-head, but one who could plot out your social demise if not given what she wanted. She reminded him of Kimiko in a way.

Except Miranda was blonde. 

And had overtly big breasts that made Jack want to gag from how fake they looked.

Not to mention how much make-up and perfume the girl poured on herself.

Or that the two may have dated very briefly when he first transferred to this school.

“Have you tried using the equation Ms. David’s has been teaching for the past three weeks yet?” he asked, forcing his voice to sound more cheerful than he actually felt.

Miranda giggled at him sweetly. Too sweetly if you asked his opinion. 

“That’s the problem JJ!” pouting did not look good on her. “I don’t get it. She doesn’t teach it in a way I can understand it.”

“Try using five over x divided by zero. Then get back to me if you’re still having issues.”

Jack turned back around in his seat, working on the last problem in the packet handed out.

So maybe he just really hated high school in all honesty.

~~~

The dude’s hair was quite literally everywhere right now. His eyes were half open, and he had dark circles under them – which made the fact they were glowing even more prominent than usual. His over-sized black hood was hardly zipped up and hanging off his slim shoulders like it was a dead animal or some shit. 

Markus did not look good.

“How much?” Jack asked.

The younger boy growled in response and flopped onto the black couch in front of him as if he were a cat.

“Markus- “

“Five minutes.”

“You slept for five minutes in the past two days?”

“My dads came over for a visit. Had to make sure they didn’t do anything to mom.” 

Jack sighed.

“Grab some Monsters from the fridge then.”

When Markus didn’t get up Jack sighed again and grabbed two for him.

Jack wasn’t mad at his friend for not getting hardly any sleep. He was mad at his two dads for worrying him so much. It wasn’t fair for Markus to have to deal with protecting not only himself when they came for a visit, but also his mom and boyfriend Sam – if Sam was ever over when the two horsemen came. 

Jack and Markus had been friends since Jack was fourteen, and Markus was twelve. 

Now they were seventeen and fifteen.

Three years. 

Wow.

“Here. Drink up you little asshole. Gotta have your energy up for the show tonight.”

He took the can, chugging it down heavily. 

It almost seemed as if he had been deprived of water. 

Jack watched him drink the first can, then move onto the second one without pause. It was times like these that Jack realized how hard this kind of thing was on Markus. His dads caused him to stay up for days and forget about eating and drinking while they were there.

Drinking both cans only took the younger teen a matter of three minutes. He crushed the can in his hand, tossed it back behind him into the trash can a few feet away, and cracked his neck as he stood up.

“You more awake now?”

“Yeah. Thanks man.”

“No problem. Now for the songs we were planning on playing tonight, I think we should go with the heavier – kind of louder songs throughout the whole night.” Jack suggested, placing an arm around the half demon. “You know. Hit ‘em heavy and fast!”

“Yeah that sounds gr- “

Suddenly the two were no longer in the back room of Jacks house anymore. They tumbled and were tossed in some sort of tunnel – trying to hold on to something for stability as they spun through the rapidly changing colors. Jack could feel something tickling at the back of his mind about this seeming familiar somehow. Like something he could just faintly remember doing not too long ago.

Then it struck him.

This was Heylin magic…

No-

This was Chases Heylin magic.

Markus was panicking – though he was silent about it. Jack could feel him shaking heavily, and he was breathing quickly. Jack could tell he was on the verge of having a panic attack and yanked Markus into his chest, curling around him to try and block it all out. He tried screaming over all the noise that surrounded them - that everything was okay, he knew what was going on, it would be over soon - but it was too loud to be heard.

And just like that, they landed hard and fast onto stone flooring – being thrown forward nearly ten feet before they stopped in the middle of the room. 

“Markus?” Jack was the first to look up from the small circle the two made. “Markus it’s over. Markus look at me dude.”

“No. Dizzy. No. Bad. Go. Need to go. No.”

Jack moved his hands to cup the ravenettes face in his hands, making him look into his eyes. He was going to calm his friend down. He needed to before Chase showed up otherwise - who knew what would happen to the two of them. 

“Markus. Listen to me, focus on my voice.” By now Jack knew this script like the back of his hand. “You’re okay. I’m okay. Everyone is okay. Your dads aren’t here. No ones going to hurt you okay? I won’t let them if I can help it.”

Slowly Markus was beginning to come back to reality.

“That’s it. Think about where you feel safest okay? Can you tell me where that is?”

“Mom, Sam, You, RJ, Wuya. Where’s- where’s Wuya and RJ?” He asked and pushed himself away from Jacks chest, putting his hands over Jacks that were still on his face. “They’re all back at my house. They’re all okay.”

“Where are we right now?”

Jack paused, looking around just to be sure about it – hoping it wasn’t where he thought they were.

“The Land of Nowhere…”

Markus swallowed loudly, panting slightly to catch his breath. 

“What do you mean ‘The Land of Nowhere’?” He made to get up, holding a hand out for Jack to grab – which he took. “Where the hell are we Jack?”

“Like I said Markus. Land of Nowhere. Home to none other than Chase Young.” He grumbled out. 

Jack began to pace, throwing his arms up to show his frustration. 

He turned to face his friend once more, rubbing the tension growing between his eyes.

He sighed, walking over to his friend and gently putting his hands on the younger boy’s shoulders. “Look we need to get out of here before he comes and finds us. I don’t know how we got here, or why we’re here in Chase’s Citadel. That - portal or whatever felt like Chase’s magic – but I don’t understand why he would bring me back here. I’m useless to him.”

“Wait- Chase Young? As in The Chase Young? Chase Young; Master of evil, Prince of Darkness, and Heylin Warrior – Chase Young?”

Jack paused. Then- 

“Yes?”

“Dude- how the hell do you know Chase Young!?”

“That isn’t the- “he groaned. “That isn’t what you need to focus on here Markus!”

“How can I not?! We’re in Chase Youngs hideout, and you want to just up and leave? Not to mention he dragged us here, so it must be important! Don’t be so rude Jack.”

Without waiting for Jack to respond the half demon slipped from his tightening grip, practically bounding over to the grand marble staircase in the middle of the giant stone room. Jack – out of barely contained frustration – gripped the air and flexed his hands as hard as he could as if he were choking someone instead. He gritted his teeth, stomping over to catch up with the ravenette who was almost a fourth of the way up the stairs by now.

“Markus wait up!”

~~~

Both boys weren’t as healthy as they appeared to be as both were panting by time they reached the top of the stairs. Markus could be heard wheezing and seen gripping his jacket – taking in large gulps of air. Jack was a little better off than the younger boy was currently. 

He had a light sheen of sweat forming on him and his nostrils flared with each exhale.

“I told you we needed to leave and what do you do?” Jack began to rant once he caught his breath again, tossing Markus his inhaler from within one of the pockets in his leather jacket. “You decide to run on off further – closer – to the guy I’m trying to avoid for both of our safety. I swear you’re more immature than me at times!”

“Shut – huff – up.”

“Why should I? You’re the one rushing headlong into danger here Markus! I’m the one trying to go back to the relative safety of my home!”

“What? Like some coward, Jack?” He scowled from where he crouched. He rose up to a standing position as his temper began to flare. “No wonder Miranda kept calling you pussy when you two broke up. It’s cause you fucking are one!"

“SHUT UP DAMNIT!”

Jack growled out, swinging his fist into the stone wall beside Markus’s face. A small chip of perfectly shaped stone fell from beneath his pale fingers and his red hair was going in every direction. He almost looked like a demon if Markus hadn’t known any better. 

He stood there – glaring and huffing out his rage in silence as neither of them moved. They stayed there, each panting from their pent-up anger at each other. 

“You done being a pussy now?”

Jack wiped at his nose and his breathe was evening out now.

He nodded.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Let’s get going then. I can smell lizard from here.”

~~~

The two made their way through winding halls and past wooden doors as Markus led the way with his enhanced abilities. Tapestries and other works of art were briefly stopped at and admired by the youngest of the two before they eventually moved on towards their destination. Steel-toed boots and the clacking of heels on stone could be heard echoing throughout the place. 

Jack thought it strange none of Chase’s jungle cat warriors had come out to “greet” them yet with how much noise the two were making combined. They had screamed in each other’s faces, Jack had punched one of the many walls, and now they were just stomping down one of the many halls of the place. 

“Something isn’t right about all this to me…”

Markus paused mid-step and turned to face him.

The two were stopped in front of a large water color painting of a Chinese landscape and a couple of burning incents that smelt of lavender and orange blossoms.  
Jack felt a faint sense of Deja-vu at the smell wafting into his nose.

“What do you mean dude?”

“I mean that we should’ve run into one of his jungle cats by now. This is weird. First, we get teleported here by Heylin magic that feels like his, and then we don’t run into any issues? I don’t know about you or if you’ve read up on how Chase works - but this isn’t like him in the slightest. Either we’re being tricked by someone else on the Heylin side whose magic is like Chase’s; or something is really wrong.” The albino stressed to his friend. “And frankly I don’t like either option we’re being given here.”

Before Markus could give his friend any form of an answer, a doorway opened behind them with a creak just loud enough to make them both pause. Jack could be seen visibly swallowing harshly and begin shaking. 

“Spicer.”

~~~

Jack had never felt more frightened in all his life.

Chase Young had found them wandering aimlessly in the halls of his citadel. 

Not only had the Chinese warrior given them a cool, blank look that just screamed danger in Jacks opinion, he had also rounded the two teens into a room somewhere deeper into the dwelling. The room they were in was around the same size as Jacks bedroom back at home, candles and torches lighting the room decorated in bookshelves and plush looking furniture. 

They had been asked – ordered – to sit on the couch in the middle of the room by Chase. They had complied easily as Jack knew by now how to keep the man from getting violent. At least he hoped he did. Otherwise they were fucked as far as Jack knew.

The silence was getting to Jack.

He knew Chase was going to say or do something, the man was just waiting for one of the two to begin the discussion because that was just how Chase Young did things. And Jack knew it from experience – be it his own or through spying on others while they met with the Heylin lord.

“So- are we just going to sit here or what? I have homework to do and an essay to write for one of my college courses.”

Markus broke under it.

Jack groaned.

What emotion he felt when doing so was a complete mystery to him.

Anger? No.

Disappointment? Maybe.

Fear?

Now that one was high up on the list of possibilities.

“Who is this – friend – of yours Spicer?” Chase eventually asked, taking a sip of his drink and crossing his legs over each other.

“Markus Little. I want to know why and how we got here Chase. I have things to do and a life outside of showdowns now.” Jack responded quickly, putting on an annoyed front. 

His fear was somehow making him brave enough to be rude to the immortal man he had feared for the past four years of his life. He clenched his hands into fists on the black fabric covering his legs nervously. He never would have said something like that had it not been for this specific situation. He had to protect Markus at all costs. Because while his friend ranted all the time to him and the others about being threatening and able to care for himself, Jack knew that he couldn’t. Especially not up against someone like Chase.

Chase raised a brow at his response, scowl coming to form on his lips. 

“Right to the point I see. Very well then. As much as it pains me to say this Spicer – I require your assistance with something.”

Wow.

Oh, wow was that totally unexpected.

“What with?”

“I require an invention of yours I believe you have with you currently. Your miniature robots. I need them to act as a distraction in the next showdown as I do not wish to participate in a battle against those insolent monks.” The dragon gritted out.

Jack gulped nervously at the subtle change in Chase’s attitude. And it was a very subtle change. But after years of fawning over the evil warlord, Jack had learned a lot about Chase and his little tics. So the albino almost instantly realized that he needed to choose his next words carefully otherwise the two may end up a little worse for ware than just going up a huge flight of stairs.

“I’m sorry to tell you this Chase, but I left showdowns over a year ago. These bots that I have on me aren’t programmed for anything except for protection from your average human. I don’t think they’d last more than a few seconds against anyone who still shows up to get wu. And I don’t have many of them – or any I could spare really…”

Chase hummed in response, eyes lowering as his scowl ever so slightly deepened.

“You know me by now I’m sure of it Spicer, correct?”

“Yes… No? Kind of- “Jack shrugged.

“Than you know I don’t take no for an adequate answer from anyone. You should feel honored I even ask for the use of your useless inventions.” 

“Jacks inventions are not useless thank you!” 

Markus stood from where he sat beside Jack, angry and hands clenched tightly at his side. The young boy made his way over to stand before where Chase sat himself in a plush looking armchair. Jack could hear a faint growl coming from the dark-haired boys throat and cringed. His purple eyes began to glow so brightly in his rage that Jack could see it from where he sat behind his back.

This wasn’t good.

Markus hardly ever got pissed at people enough to growl at them.

And he was growling at The Chase Young.

“Jack has invented plenty of useful stuff since I’ve known him. Med-bots, battle-bots, A.I computer systems throughout not only his house – but mine and the rest of our friends as well to keep us safe from any asshole who tries to mess with us. And let me tell you he did not mess around when designing those things. I’m talking missiles, lasers, guns. Everything you could think of just to protect us. Don’t even get me started on the shit he’s invented to attack people whenever the urge hit him.” Markus continued to rant on, throwing his hands up into the air and waving them about in his rage.

“Markus- “Jack tried, too nervous to be anything above a whisper.

Markus continued to rant on while Chase brought his attention over to the albino nervously clenching his jeans into his hands.

“Markus.” He said a little louder.

He still ignored him.

“MARKUS!” 

“WHAT!?”

“Shut. Up.”

Jack was glaring up at him, red bangs obscuring the others view of his eyes.

“Why should I? He’s insulting you Jack. I’m not letting some stuck-up asshole say anything remotely rude to someone who’s helped me and my mom out I don’t know how many times before.” 

“How many times I’ve ‘helped’ you doesn’t matter right now. I’m not the one who needs all the respect in the room from you. Chase is. So, shut the hell up and let me handle this so you don’t get your ass handed to you on a silver fucking platter for pissing off a literal dragon.”

At this point both teens were standing, panting in their anger, and in each other’s faces. Jack poked Markus in the center of his chest, making the shorter teen stumble backwards a bit. It took a moment but eventually Markus huffed through his nose and sat back down onto the couch grumpily.

Jack then took a deep breath and turned to face the warlord.

“Like I said before Chase – I left, and these bots do little more than defend off a human.”

“From what your friend has told me You’ve done more than just that.” He stood from his seat, a few inches taller than Jack was (By about six inches or so). “Order some of your bots to come here. You both are coming with me to the next showdown whether you like it or not.”

And with that he walked out the door, leaving the two teens to stand there.

~~~

Being back on a showdown battle field reminded Jack a lot about why he had left them in the first place. 

The four Xialoin monks were just below the two gothic teen boys and Chase, wandering in a large field of wild flowers and tall grasses as they searched for an activated wu. 

The four other teens hadn’t changed much since Jack had last seen them. 

Kimiko had grown a bit, having gotten a more defined and slim figure. She seemed to have matured a bit as well as she now resorted to wearing the red uniform and allowing her natural hair to grow down to her shoulders. She was quite beautiful when she allowed her natural beauty to show.

Rai had shaved the sides of his hair and kept the longer portion atop his head in a man-bun, he had lean muscle that Jack could just barely make out through his robes. He carried himself in almost the same way as he had almost over a year ago. Confident and snarky. Except now Rai held a determined look on his face.

Clay had allowed his blond locks to grow out long enough for him to put in a small ponytail at the base of his neck. He still wore his cowboy hat and wore his leather boots and blue jeans. But he switched his original farmboy-esque shirt for his red uniform instead as well. The earth dragon seemed to have grown taller – around six foot by now – and lost a bit of weight only to gain it back in muscle instead.

Lastly was Omi. And oh god had the little cheeseball changed in the year and half Jack was gone. Omi was so much taller than he had been – probably taller than Jack by now – and built with stringy muscle that was obviously still in the process of growing as the monk went through puberty. His face had sharpened out and he had a more easy-going smile to his face. The guy didn’t even look like he was nearly three years younger than Jack, he looked three years older than him now.

“What the hell happened to Cheeseball while I was gone!? How does he look taller AND older than me now!” Jack asked in an almost rant like voice.

All four of the losers had gotten so much better looking than Jack had! They’d grown more than Jack had. And that pissed the albino off to a small degree, making him walk closer to the edge of the rock formation the three stood on that looked out over the field and cross his arms angrily. 

“The little one has gone through puberty as you can see. So have the others. They have also improved their skill levels since your absence on the ‘scene’ as you call it.” Chase gave an impervious sniff of the air once he was done explaining, glaring down at the four still semi-developing teenagers. 

“Either of you going to tell me who’s who or am I just going to have to go down there and introduce myself to them? I’d really like to know who farm boy over there is.” Markus purred out, swinging his legs over the edge.

“Markus, you have Sam. Remember? Your boyfriend.” 

“I can look at people if I want Jack. You never complain when I’m staring at you.” Markus countered.

“That’s because you space out while looking at me. You don’t even focus when you do that you rebound emo.”

“I am not a rebound emo thank you!” the boy hmphed. “I’m a happy emo. I suffer with a smile~” Markus said, acting pompously toward the end of his statement. 

“Enough of your sniveling nonsense.” The Heylin dragon vexed at the two. “Jack, deploy your robots so I may take the wu before the brats find it and be done with you and your ‘happy-emo’.”

Jack yelped at the sudden angry command, fumbling as he grabbed at his controller from inside his jackets inner pocket. Jack eventually held the small device firmly in his hands, adjusting the commands for his old – but recently upgraded – Jack-bots to go down into the valley and attack the four monks. The bots were practically silent as they did so – their sleek new design making them more speed and stealth prone in their descent. 

“Welp- I’m gonna go down there and see if I can have some fun with one of the little red riding hoods! Wish them luck Jackie-chan!” Markus grinned, pushing himself off the edge, landing on top of one of the floating Jack-bots, and fixing his hood over his head. 

Jack rushed over, trying to grab the collar of his shirt and missing. 

“You’re going to get your ass handed to you and I’m not coming down there to help you!” Jack paused. “And I told you to quit calling me that damnit!” 

Markus ignored him. He hopped down from the bot he stood on, giggling as he did so. The monks seemed not to notice the pale teen at first, instead focusing on their continued search for the recently activated wu. 

The half demon smirked to himself – going over and sneaking up on the earth dragon Clay with his hands in the front pocket on his black hoodie. He watched Clay search the grass, still not picking up on Markus directly behind him. 

Jack clenched his hands tightly around the controller in his pale hands, gnawing on his lower lip.

“Your friend seems to be either stupidly brave, or one to not care for his own safety, Spicer. I can see how the two of you are friends.” Chase mocked, coming over to the edge beside Jack. “You both seem not to care whether you’re seen as reckless and insolent.”

“Markus isn’t stupid. He just has a different opinion on what’s fun than other people. And because he isn’t other people, he doesn’t care about whether people think he’s being stupid.” Jack turned to look up at Chase from fiddling with the controls some more. “But I do.”

This shocked Chase. Though he would never admit, let alone show it to anyone. Spicer was looking at Chase as if the Heylin prince were someone below himself. Spicer was determined and angry at the man. He even looked insulted that Chase would say something like that regarding his friend. It took him by surprise at the level at which Spicer seemed to care for his dark-haired friend.

He decided to ignore the look by turning to look down at Spicer’s friend, scowling slightly.

“You’re a worm Spicer. You’re below me – always have been and always will be. Don’t talk as if I’m the one who’s below the other here, or next time I’ll have to remove the tongue from your mouth for you.”

“I don’t care Chase. I don’t let anyone insult Markus no matter what their standing is – socially, politically, or physically. You don’t know what he deals with. You don’t know him like I do. I know him better than his own mother.” Jack growled, not looking away. “He’s working on five minutes of sleep right now and look at him.”

Chase looked down closer at the younger teen. 

“He’s taken nearly five wu from the pockets of them and they haven’t even noticed.” Jack snapped his finger to get the dragons attention once again, causing said dragon to growl at the disrespect Spicer was showing to him. “So, don’t fucking doubt my friend Chase. Ever.”

A sudden blast interrupted Chase as he opened his mouth to rebuttal Jack. 

The two looked down to see the four monks and their dragon Dojo surrounding the boy. They all had an angry look on their faces, already at the ready in their fighting stances. They each had their respective wu out, pointing them threateningly at Markus who was smiling and waving innocently at them.

“Heyo! I’m Markus. You guys must be those monks Jack was telling me about.” He smiled happily at them, rocking back and forth on his heels. “You guys aren’t very smart though I have to say. I mean, just think about how much lighter you feel. You guys do feel lighter, don’t you?” 

Kimiko was the first to take the bait, feeling around her pockets only to realize she’d lost some of her wu.

“Where did my wu go!?” she cried out.

Omi was the next. Followed by Clay and then Rai.

“What have you done with our wu, small, half-sized adult?” 

Rai sighed. “He means teenager…”

Markus laughed quietly at their expense. He grabbed an invention Jack had made for him a few months back from his back pocket. At first glance it looked like a regular tube of Chapstick designed for a techno-nerd. But upon pressing a small red button the two ends extended out and grew two metal prongs at the end of them, allowing currents of purple electricity to flow between them. 

Markus twirled it for a few moments before taking on a fighting stance as well. 

“If you want them back so badly, why don’t you come and fight me for them?”

The monks grew more cautious of the young male, beginning to circle him in positions low to the ground. Clay could be seen gradually inching his way closer towards his target as they circled. 

It looked as if Clay would be the first to grab at Markus until the half demon twisted around on a dime and jabbed the weapon into the cowboy’s stomach area, sending hundreds of volts worth of electricity into his system. He held the prongs there before finally retracting them and allowing Clay to fall to his knees – clutching his stomach and shuddering every now and again. 

Markus’s grin broadened at that, crouching down and taking the blondes face into one of his hands.

“Sorry cowboy, demonic hearing and all.” He shrugged.

Clay then promptly fainted.

After that all hell broke loose between the three remaining monks and Markus.

Kimiko launched all sorts of fire attacks at Markus – fire balls, walls of fire that stretched nearly twenty feet into the air – fueled by Rai’s gusts of winds and tornados as well as her anger of Clay’s quick defeat. 

Markus easily dodged these assaults, barely managing to block off the ice sent at his back by Omi. 

Jack could tell Markus was no longer having any fun. Markus was starting to panic from being overwhelmed by all the loud noises. Jack could see it his face from where he stood up on the rocks edge. It was making the albino worry and focus his bots on trying to attack the monks. 

It worked as they slowed down their attacks as they became swarmed with the sleek new bots.

However, even with the added distractions, the monks were still focusing the majority of their attacks onto the target in front of them. Jack was getting frustrated over his ‘plan’ not working to try and help Markus to avoid another panic attack within the hour.

Jack growled as he punched the buttons on his controls. “Damnit- I swear if they send him into an attack I’m going to murder them.” 

“You seem unusually protective of your friend.” Chase noted.

“Yeah well, if you knew him you would be too Chase.”

Kimiko eventually managed to land an attack on Markus, blasting him back nearly twenty feet into the soil. He rolled as he skidded to a stop, shaking as he got onto his hands and knees. It was obvious he had lost the energized staff Jack had given him for protection. Yet the two monks – Kimiko and Rai – didn’t care while they stomped over.

Jack immediately threw the controller in his hands down to the ground, jumping off the edge and rushing over to his friend. Chase continued to watch with his arms crossed and a brow raised in interest. The warlord could make an assumption as to how this would go based upon previous showdowns. While Spicer’s robotic skills had obviously improved in the time he spent away, the dragon doubted his physical abilities had improved at all.

~~~

Chase could still clearly remember his last showdown with the worm – Jack’s last showdown overall, including the times Chase didn’t show after said showdown. It had been for the Golden Tiger Claws – a wu that created portals to transport the user to another location instantly. Spicer had shown up to the arctic tundra they had activated in last, flying in without his usual trench coat and arms covered in bandages and motor oil. 

The bandages had caught the immortals interest marginally as he had never really seen Spicer’s arms all too much. They were always covered with the sleeves of his coat, large hoodie or sweatshirts, and long-sleeved shirts as of late.

The teen was rubbing at his arms as he landed on the snowed over ice and Chase could see his teeth chattering obnoxiously. 

The monks had arrived on their dragon Dojo just after Chase and Wuya had arrived on scene. They all were dressed in parkas and cozy but functional winter gear – all the while Wuya and Chase just had no need for anything to keep them warm.

Chase had had no real need or want for the wu, but Wuya had said she required them and annoyed Chase enough for him to come along with the witch. 

All of them in the end were fighting for the wu, no-one was holding back and both Wuya and two of the monks had been knocked out of the Showdown – one where they needed to stay afloat on rushing icecaps. Omi, Rai, and Chase were in a three-way tie to get to the Tiger Claws, leaving Jack struggling to get across as the waves from the force of the other three vibrated back and rocked all the caps in front of the albino.

Jack was huffing out big gusts of exhaled mist into the air – all of which were gradually getting thinner as his body cooled to the below freezing temps surrounding them. He was hardly able to keep his balance at this point and was having to grip onto the edges of each cap with his fingers tightly, and they were beginning to bleed.

He was more determined at this point than at any other point in the past to succeed and get what he wanted. He wanted respect and to not be ignored anymore by his evil idol. And the only way to have that happen was for him to finally win something as big as the Tiger Claws. If Chase was after them than they had to be something big enough to receive some form of attention from him.

“Give up Jack! You’re not going to win! You always lose so why even try!?”

The three in front had paused – the monks needed to catch their breath and Chase was feeling ‘nice’ today – and turned around on their respective caps to look back at the red-head. At this point his hair was everywhere and not even Chase could see his breath in the air anymore. 

Kimiko snickered to herself. “What’s up with the bandages on your arms Jack? Can’t take a little playful banter anymore either? Are you so weak you’re actually hurting yourself for us?”

Jack didn’t respond, just brought his arm up to wipe at his mouth and nose.

Rai grinned to himself, deciding to get in on it.

“Wow Jack. I knew you were weak – but I didn’t know you were that weak. Maybe you should go back home and cry to mommy and daddy Spicer about how mean those ‘stupid monks’ are to you. Maybe they’ll show up to the next showdown and win the wu for you for once.”

“Maybe he should go ahead and do everyone a favor and end it all for us too Rai!” 

The two monks sniggered amongst themselves and continued to gloat over themselves. They claimed they were better, claimed he was too weak to do anything for himself. And the others could see it having an affect on the teen. He was curling in on himself, shutting down, and gripping his bloody fingers into the sides of the icecap he was on even tighter.

“Why is he even alive still Kim? I mean – it’s not like Jack would be missed. No friends, annoying, his family’s never around. It’s no wonder he’s so weak. He doesn’t have anyone to make him tough.” 

That seemed to break Jack as he suddenly shot up and ran full force towards the dragon of wind. The hair was finally whipped out of his face and they could all see the crazy look on his face. The teen’s face was twisted up into the darkest look any of them had ever seen him pull, and it froze the other four teens into place as Jack advanced on Rai quickly. It took a matter of seconds for Jack to reach his intended target and slam his fist into the others face.

Rai rebutted the attack with his own, sending a large gust of wind and sending Jack falling into the icy water below.

He gasped upon crashing through the ice into the water below. Below the surface, the water wasn’t clear like one would expect. Instead it was dark and murky to Jack’s weak eyesight. He floated in the water, frozen from shock for a few moments – sinking slowly towards the bottom miles below him. 

The other’s stood in shock above the rushing water.

It took a few moments, but both Clay and Omi rushed over to the spot where Rai had knocked Jack into the water. The shorter monk pulled out his Eye of Tournami, trying to stop the rushing currents below to help Clay pull the albino back out. The terrain was slowly starting to return to the state it had been in before the showdown had started. The breaks between them were closing and neither were having any luck in finding Jack.

“Omi! Pull all the snow off the caps! I can’t pull Jack out if I can’t see him!” Clay called out in a panic, digging at the snow frantically.

Omi hurried to follow Clays order.

Wuya caught a flash of red rushing away below her.

“Over her!” she cried over the howling wind.

She may have been evil, and thought Spicer annoying and incompetent, but not even she wanted to see the young teen die yet. 

Her cry caused the two young monks to go rushing over. They ran past her towards the red flying through the water below them. 

“Fist of Tebigong!”

~~~

Jack jumped from the heads of his bots until he reached his destination in front of his shaking friend. The albino crouched down, putting his hands gingerly on his back. Markus knocked it off in turn, reaching up behind him and yanking his hood off. Jack then proceeded to back off to give his friend some room to do as he pleased.

Markus’s face was twisted into a sour scowl. The corner of his lip was pulled up, baring his fangs as he growled beyond Jack to the approaching monks. His hands twisted into fists around the grass beneath them and a slick black tail was slowly beginning to emerge from under the end of his hoodie, swishing back and forth angrily.

His eyes glowed an enraged violet as he spoke up to Jack.

“You got my back on this one?” he hissed out in question to the albino.

Jack paused, looking between one of his – if not – closest friends and the monks making their way towards them. He chewed on his lip. His anxiety was spiking just being in the same area as Kimiko and Rai. Jack couldn’t even begin to imagine himself getting into another showdown with any of the monks. He’d rather die than do such a thing.

But Markus needed him to do this for not only him, but for Jack himself. One look in the half demon’s eyes told Jack as much that Markus wanted this to be an experience Jack could use to get over whatever had happened to him in the past. The younger male was deciding that this could be a sort of therapy for Jack – some form of closer so he could move on from whatever emotional and psychological wounds that were still practically bleeding in a metaphorical sense.

“Mikado Arm!” Jack shouted, activating the wu held in his hands.

Markus grinned up at him, moving to stand up as well behind him. 

The monks paused in their step, wondering how Jack had gotten that specific wu in the first place. They didn’t stop long however, activating their own wu and preparing to fire off an attack at any moment. None of them did anything for a long moment – and Jack idly wondered about how not one of them had asked where he had been for the past year and a half.

“I thought you had finally taken our advice and killed yourself Jack.” Rai shouted across the field, grinning cheekily to himself. 

Jack tsked and Markus let out a low hiss – his body tensing up tighter almost like a rubber band about to snap in two. The three monks were doing a wide circle around the two, surrounding them from different angles. 

“Sorry to disappoint you again, but hey - what else am I known for and actually good at?”

“Oh, shut up Jack!” Kimi yelled when the silence between them lasted longer than she deemed acceptable. “Star Hanabi! Fire Wall!”

“Sword of the Storm! Hurricane!”

The two monk’s elemental attacks merged into one, giant fire storm aimed at the two teen boys. Jacks crimson eyes widened as the attack blocked out the sun as it headed toward them. The flames and strong winds roared loudly in his ears and froze for a split second before yanking Markus close to him and activating his Jetbootsu to get them out of the large impact zone.

The two just barely made it above the storm in the sky, watching as it burned outwards in all directions miles below themselves. 

“Now that’s just one big pile of fucking overkill dude…” Markus trailed as he clung tightly to Jacks waist.

Jack grinned down at him.

“Tell me about it. As soon as Chase gets what he wants- “

“We’re outta here. I know dude.” He said, grinning up at him as they began to lower towards the ground below them once more. “We’re going to have to head over to the warehouse as soon as this is all over too.”

Jack nodded.

Markus jumped the remaining few feet left and rushed at Kimiko on all fours. Rai sent a large gust of wind Jacks way with a growl – only to have the albino just barley brush past it in a startled cartwheel. The Brazilian teen showcased a look of great shock and confusion at Jacks dodge. Since when had he been able to dodge anything, let alone one of Rai’s larger gusts of deadly wind?

He shook his head however and continued to send gust after gust of deadly force winds at the albino out of anger and frustration. Jack was continuously able to dodge each gust however and was making his way towards his opponent – his Mikado Arm wu still ready to cause some chaos.

Markus was doing just as well – if not better as he was in a hand to hand battle against the Japanese girl before him. Markus continued to send punch after punch at her face and Kimiko continued to block each attempted hit in turn. They moved back and forth as they gained and lost ground to the other. 

The half demon was beginning to find this annoying however and decided to swipe his tail at her legs – sweeping them from under her. She fell backwards, landing on her hands and flipping backwards to retreat a few feet away from him.

“Mikado Arm! Third Arm Sash! Rib Crusher!”

Rai screamed and flew back across the scorched field – which made Kimiko turn her head to look at her boyfriend with a worried look. Taking his chance, Markus launched himself at her – tackling her to the ground and putting her into a chokehold as he bent over her. He looked over to Jack.

The albino was breathing heavily. He was sweating profusely and wiped a gloved hand across his cheek which was bleeding a bit. Jack looked down at the red in disgusting – flicking it across the small fire still going near his feet and putting it out in turn.

“Looking great boss!”

Markus could feel the glare from where he was.

“Don’t call me boss you little fucker, or I’ll gut you like that fish I made a few weeks ago!”

Markus shivered – still grinning mischievously – as he remembered the mess and insane grin Jack had on his face that night while he had been preparing it for them to eat. He did not want to be like that – incredibly delicious – fish they had all shared. But that didn’t mean he still wouldn’t continue his little fun.

“Whatever you say…” he paused. “boss~”

“Markus, I swear to- “Jack’s threat was interrupted as Kimiko managed to get her arm free. He went to shout a warning at the half demon, but wasn’t fast enough as the girl shouted out her attack and sent Markus flying off her. 

“Markus!”

Jack abandoned where he was holding onto Rai’s unconscious arm to rush over to help his friend.

“I’m fine!” Jack stopped, watching as Markus got up with a stagger. “I’m going to shove my arm down that pretty little throat of yours and pull your spine out vertebrae by vertebrae you little bitch!”

“MARKUS!”

He looked over to the older teen.

“Drop. It.” Jack growled out. He knew when Markus started making threats like that it could only be bad – because he would go through with it. 

He then looked over to Kimiko. “Take your friends and leave Tohomiko, because he will do that, and frankly I don’t want to see bloody corpses all over the place today. I have things to do and not enough time to deal with this kind of shit.”

Jack sighed, picking up the small black item in the shape of a beetle. 

He tossed it to Chase – who caught it easily in his hand.

“Now if all of you don’t mind – I’ll just take my bots and my friend here - and get going. And we’ll all hopefully never have the pleasure of seeing each other again. Goodbye.”

Jack dug into one of his pockets and tossed out a small black disc. Before the item hit the scorched ground, it popped open into a hoverboard the genius had invented one weekend while bored. He climbed onto it and waited as Markus retracted his tail and hopped on behind him. 

And just like that the two flew off.

~~~

“Where have the two of you been all this time!?” Wuya all but screeched upon finding the two teenage boys walking in through the front door. Her red hair was up in a messy ponytail, a short, black pencil skirt was around her hips and a black crop top was on her as well to match. The witch’s make-up was almost immaculate – minus the stained mascara that looked as if it had been slowly sweated off.

She glowered at the two, hands on her exposed hips and nails almost digging into her tanned flesh.

“Doesn’t matter Wuya. We’re back now and we got what we needed to done.” Jack answered monotonously. “If you need me I’ll be heading up to take a shower in the five minutes we have before we need to leave. Oh, and Markus?”

“Yes?”

“Not a word about what happened, you got that?”

“Uh… yeah okay.”

Jack continued up the stairs, heading for his bedroom. 

Once he was out of earshot and the sound of a door slamming shut reached her ears, Wuya gave Markus an unimpressed look. She crossed her arms over her chest – jutting her hip outwards as she stomped heeled feet on the granite below them towards the half demon boy. She backed him into a corner and poked a nail into the center of his chest harshly. 

“You better tell me what you two did or so help me – “she hissed out lowly, letting the unsaid threat hang in the air.

Markus gulped loudly.

“Look Wuya – “he held his hands up in surrender. “even if I did know how to explain it to you, I can’t. That would break Jack’s trust in me and you know how hard it is for him to trust people since…”

“Miranda, I know. That’s a whole other thing though. You both reek of burnt earth and reptiles.” She sniffed at his neck briefly. “Lavender and orange blossom too.” 

It took a moment – Wuya glaring into Markus’s eyes – before a look of recognition dawned on her face.

“You both smell like - “

She growled, tightening her hands into fists and she began to pace angrily in front of him. The Heylin witch couldn’t believe this. Jack had told her over and over again for weeks that he was done working for anyone in the Heylin-Xiaolin conflict. Had he really lied to her like that? Wuya had thought Jack had really changed. Why would he have lied to her like that though? She had become his mother in a way. If this was how Jack had treated his actual mother no wonder, she didn’t -

No. 

Wuya cared too much about him now to think about his home situation like that.

“Why do you both smell like Chase Young and the monks?”

“I don’t… I can’t tell you Wuya.” He sighed through his nose – angry and frustrated with her. “You’re going to have to ask Jack yourself because I’m not ruining his trust in me just to answer your stupid questions.” 

He glared at her before shoving his way past to go look for RJ and the others.

~~~

Chase Young quirked an eyebrow at the red flyer in his gloved hands. He could feel the monks stare on him from across the field, but he didn’t very much care for them at the moment. If they tried anything he could just beat them with his empty hand – and still read the flyer at the same time. He was more concerned about Jack Spicer’s latest developments and friend. And whatever this ‘Wake-Up Concert Experience’ was to care about the weaklings.

It seemed as if Spicer and his friend would be attending the event. He gave a small grin before crumbling the paper and tossing it to the ground behind him at the monks. If he was going, he might as well make it more interesting by being subtle about it. The monks had a chance at getting back the wu they lost. And Chase had a chance at talking to Spicer about some questions he had for the albino. 

It was a good plan and he was feeling nice today – per say.

He made it a point to disappear right as Omi picked it up.

~~~

Jack walked back downstairs once he was done with his shower and dressed in a loose black tank with some ripped skinny jeans. He hopped down them two at a time, landing with loud bang in his boots. The teen turned on his heel, heading back towards the giant living room where he could hear the tv was on.

“What’s up Jack-Rabbit?”

“Charlie!”

Charlie Meagan was a sixteen-year-old girl of Irish American descent who was on bass in the band Jack had suggested they start as a joke a few months ago. She had long red curls that were always a giant mess on her head and bright green eyes. She had pale skin and freckles on her cheeks and across her nose with black glasses. Charlie stood up from her seat and patted down her front to fix her blue wash jeans and black crop-top with an alien on it. 

She laughed as the albino scooped her up into a hug. 

“Dude you saw me like - last week!”

“Yeah but then you went back home to Ireland right after!” he whined. 

Charlie was one of his best friends – after Markus of course – and he always overreacted when she and her younger sister Emma came over for a visit. Emma was a year younger than Charlie – though she looked like she was about thirteen – and the pianist for their band who also worked the sound effects with RJ. She too had freckles and green eyes like her sister, but that was where the similarities ended. 

“Sorry about that Jackie. Ma and Pa wanted us back home to help plan the wedding for our brother and his fiancée.” Emma shrugged with a blush from her corner of the room. 

“Ugh – “Charlie groaned, getting loose from his hold. “Not to mention bridesmaid dress shopping - which took forever by the way!”

Markus gasped, offended. “What!? I would’ve loved to go with you guys!”

Sam snickered, holding the half demon around the waist as he sat in his lap.

“Only you would find dress shopping for hours fun Mark.”

“I mean – if they’re cute dresses it’s fun… and if it’s cold in the changing rooms.”

“Yes, yes whatever. Get your asses in the van and let’s get going. It’s already eight thirty and your show starts at nine.” Wuya shouted at them, hands on her hips and an expression only a mom could perfect when scolding a room full of rowdy teenagers.

The ride over to the warehouse was full of playing their music too loud and dancing in their seats. They screamed jokes over the beats, laughing and flipping other drivers who tried to yell at them off. Jack played around on his phone, showing a couple funny pictures to Charlie and her sister in turn. Wuya yelled at Markus and Sam for ‘being too cute for her to focus on the road’ a couple times.

All in all, the ride there was normal for them.

Once they were there, they all hopped out. Emma and Markus ran ahead, giving out high-fives to a few people already in line for the event. 

Jack, Charlie and Sam followed behind Wuya as she walked around to the back.

“So, do we have an order or whatever?” Sam asked.

Jack turned to look at him, confused.

“An order for what?”

“For who goes on to play.”

“Oh – well we’re gonna play a few songs – Charlie you’ll open for us” she nodded. “Georgie will play a song, then we’ll go on for two or three songs after him. Shonen-Hollywood will play two. Georgie will go on again. Then Markus and then me.” He shrugged.

“That doesn’t sound too confident Jack. Tell me Georgie and the other band at least know when to go on.” Wuya said, giving him a side glance as she opened the door for them. She grabbed his upper arm as he went to walk inside, giving him a scolding look as she hissed quietly at him in the doorway. “And I need to talk to you afterwards when we get back home. About where the two of you disappeared to for over three hours.” 

Jack looked at Wuya with a look of confusion clear on his face before what she was implying hit him. He scowled at her - knowing she wasn’t going to let it go - and yanked his arm from her grip.

“Whatever…”

They each made their way to the area they had made into the backstage, and went their separate ways. Wuya was off in search of the girls to help them with their makeup, while Jack went to where he knew Markus and Sam were bound to be. 

“I think I might want to dye my hair soon…”

“Why would you want to do that? I like your hair like it is now.” 

Markus sighed, reaching up and playing with one of Sam’s brown curls. “Yeah but – black’s kind of plain, you know?”

“What color were you thinking of dyeing it anyways?”

Markus shrugged, looking up as Jack came over.

“What do you think of me with lilac hair dude?” 

He could hear a lot of people talking behind that black curtain they stood near. 

“What? Like a pastel purple lilac sort of thing?” Jack asked, his arms crossed as he leaned against one of the metal pipes holding the lights and curtain up.

“Yeah that.”

Jack shrugged at him. “I don’t know. I mean if you like it and want to - I say go ahead dude. It’s your hair and if you end up not liking it you can just dye a different color or go back to black.”

Wuya was suddenly there, pushing them all out onto the stage underneath all the bright lights, blinding the five of them.

“Get your asses out there dumbasses!” 

And like that she disappeared out into the crowd.

~~~

Chase Young was not the type of person to enjoy music, especially not this kind of music. It was pumping loudly throughout the whole building, shaking the broken widows that were still in their window panes. He was surrounded by teenagers and young adults with colorful hair and what could only be described as grunge clothing. 

He scowled as a group of teenaged girls rushed past him, giggling and shouting to each other about not being able to wait for the group to come on stage already. Rolling his eyes, he took a deep breath, so he wouldn’t rip their throats out. He was out in public at the moment and didn’t need the whole place getting any louder with terrified screaming.

Looking out into the crowd he could make out the four monks across from him and away from the large mass of hormonal bodies in front of them. The four of them seemed to have realized the type of music Spicer most likely listened to and dressed for the occasion – whereas Chase only dressed up in a simple leather jacket, white t shirt, and some dark jeans with his hair up into a ponytail behind his head.

Rai had gone for some ripped up jeans and a black hoodie with some sort of cartoonish skull on it and flipped the hair on top of his head over to cover one of his eyes.  
Kimiko had a black headband to keep her hair out of her face. Chase could just make out a bit of black eyeliner under her eyes and some dark lipstick. She had on a band t shirt and a pair of black leggings on to try and blend in. Out of the four Chase felt she had planned her disguise better than the others.

Clay was second best in the dragon’s opinion. His blond hair was kept under a beanie. He too had on a black leather jacket and some skinny jeans on over his muscular legs and he had on a light shirt with some song lyrics on it in some sort of font that made it look like an animal had carved out the letters. 

Omi went for the more simplistic route however. A simple pair of jeans and a black t shirt.

Chase smirked to himself.

The night would be interesting indeed.

He collected his expression into a blank one as he went back to searching the crowd for the red headed albino. 

“Next up we have everyone’s favorite band.” A boy with white hair and loose clothing came out onto the stage as the previous band made their way off, grabbing everyone’s attention and quieting the whole warehouse.

A few females in the crowd squealed, obviously knowing who was up next.

“Yep you guys guessed it! It’s Holding Onto You!” everyone screamed in excitement and Chase scowled at how loud they were being. “Now for those of you who have just recently arrived – or anyone who has no clue who this group is because you’ve been living under a fucking rock – this group is headed by a close friend of mine. My dear friend here, I’ve known him for about eh- five weeks now? And trust me when I tell you guys this dude has talent. You guys want to know a cool secret about him?”

The crowd screeched in excitement.

The teen on stage chuckled into his mic.

“Alright alright! The cool secret about him is that the dude has mad skills for writing music and creating stuff. This entire event right here? His idea and he’s even funding everything too. Hell, the dude has even written all the music that’s been played and going to be played tonight!” he shouted out excitedly. “Now before I make my leave from the stage, I just want to thank him for doing this for you guys and myself. Oh, and before I forget! Make sure you guys have got a designated driver for tonight! I see you assholes drinking in the corner over there!”

The crowd laughed as a spotlight was pointed over to the far corner where a group of teens were seen drinking bottles of cheap beer.

“Fuck you too Georgie!” one of them called back.

“Yeah yeah! I’ll be sure to show your sister a good time tonight just for that! Now without further ado, I give you guys the main event of tonight!”

The whole crowd lit up in excitement as a group of five teenagers were shoved onto the stage from behind the curtain. A girl with blue hair that went down to her shoulders and dressed in an outfit that didn’t fit the whole theme flipped whoever was behind the curtain off.

“You’re telling me I could’ve come here in something like that!?” Kimiko screeched.

She was ignored however by her boyfriend pointing up onto the stage in shock.

“Is that Jack!?”

Looking up as well, Chase was met with the sight of Spicer putting his guitar strap on over one of his exposed pale shoulders. The teen was smiling and laughing behind himself at his bandmates picking up their instruments as well. Spicer made his way up to the front mic, wrapping a hand around it and saying something to the blue haired girl behind a huge black turn table.

Chase shoved his way closer to the stage as sudden curiosity burst through him. People squeaked and shouted at him as he did so, but he ignored them. The monks were making their way closer to the stage as well he could see from the corner of his golden eyes. 

“Hi JJ!” was shouted up to the stage by a squeaky voiced blonde whose shirt didn’t really keep anything from the imagination.

Jack’s ears seemed to perk up at the noise. Chase could see a flash of annoyance cross the albinos face before he replaced it with a sweet smile. He walked over to the edge of the stage where the girl stood smiling up at him. He crouched down and Chase could still hear the ensuing conversation due to his enhanced hearing.

“Well hey Miranda. What’s up?” 

“Would you sing a song for me JJ? Please? For my birthday?” she asked, creeping an arm up his forearm.

Even Jack couldn’t hide that flash of disgust as he glanced down at her hand. He slowly inched back and nodded down to her.

“Of course, I can! Guys! Change of plans. Emma cue track four up on the sound effects for me please.” He called out as he reached the mic once again. He grinned down at her and Chase could see the glint of hate in his crimson eyes as he put his lips up to the mic to begin the song he had in mind

“You - do you know that bad girls go to hell?” a voice that sounded like it was from an early radio broadcast came through the speakers, followed by a guitar and the teenaged boy with black hair from before screaming out a ‘c’mon’ out into the crowd.

“Up to your neck in shit – “Jack began and gave a mean grin down to her, strumming out an angry chord on his guitar. “like a plague you spread. There’s not getting over it! You better bite your tongue, cover up your tracks – you know you’re gonna get fucked!”

The music softened briefly as the guitar cut out before going back into the angry beat the music made.

“I know what you are – “Jack was flexing his muscles in his anger as he strummed. “You’re like a dark cloud, that follows me around like a virus with no cure! You’re like an angry crowd, I’m a riot in the streets! And you’re a cheap little whore!”

The crowd seemed to be familiar with the song as they began chanting out the phrase cheap whore repeatedly. Chase looked over to look at the monks, seeing them hold uncomfortable expressions on their faces.

“Putting words in their mouth till they choke to death – There’s no getting over it! Your mind is deceiving them all. You tiptoed ohed- like another ghost!” 

By the time the song had ended the girl – Miranda – that the song was clearly about due to a spotlight being shined on her - was red in the face, tears and mascara falling down her cheeks. A small portion of the crowd in the front row had cleared away from her and the lighting as she panted and clenched her nails into fists harshly. 

“How dare you Jack Spicer!” Miranda screeched loud enough that the whole building could hear her. “I will end you, you freak!”

Jack snickered and handed his instrument to RJ who stood beside him on stage. The albino walked over to the edge of the stage for the second time that night and crouched down to get closer to her to speak. He held a mic to his lips as he pointed his cheek to her and tapped at it, grinning and taunting her. 

“C’mon then Miranda. Get me back already. Right here. I won’t even look.”

This made the teenaged girls blood boil as she stomped over and brought a fist back to strike at him. Chase expected her to land the hit – as did the rest of the crowd as they gasped their surprise. However, just as her fist was about to strike, Jack gripped her wrist and twisted it at the same time as he jumped down from the stage. 

“Why don’t you do the smart thing here and run off with some random dude like you usually do huh, cuntbag?” 

She glared up into his red eyes.

Chase had never seen this side of Spicer. He seemed much older, much more mature than he had been the last time he had seen the pale youth. It intrigued Chase to see the boy acting in this way. It was – evil – somehow for him to be acting this way.

“You’re going to regret this Jack Spicer!”

“Not as much as I regret you bitch!” He called as she stomped out of the building.

The crowd got rowdy with laughter after he shouted that into the microphone in his hands. Jack grinned as he watched her slam the giant doors behind her and turned to get back on stage. Markus came over to help the albino back up, leaning down to say something into his ear.

“I smell lizard again Jack…” 

He froze, looking up into dimly lit purple eyes. Jack couldn’t believe it. How could Chase Young have found him here? Had the man seen Jack taunting his ex? God that was so embarrassing when Jack looked at it through Chase’s perspective to have done that to her. What if Chase had heard him singing? What if he had hurt the mans ears with his god-awful singing and Chase was going to come and murder him in the middle of the night now!?

The albino swallowed and used the offered hand to pull himself back on stage. He decided he was going to ignore the fact that Chase Young was here, and told Markus as such as he passed the younger teen. He took a calming breath before he smiled up at the crowd, laughing nervously and scratching the back of his neck with a slight pink to his cheeks.

“Heheh… Sorry about that guys. That was supposed to be the last song for tonight-“ 

The crowd interrupted him with a loud boo throughout themselves.

“HEY! You guys didn’t get to let me finish!” He shouted over the noise. Once it was calm enough he continued. “So, how about I let you guys hear a song I wrote a few days ago huh?” 

They erupted into cheers loud enough to make Chase start hearing a faint bell in his right ear.

“Alright, alright. This song is somewhat close to me?” he said with a bit a question in his tone, as if he weren’t quite sure of himself. “It’s- it’s about someone I felt really close to – which I’m sure all of you have someone like that out there to you. Something has come up just now, and I’m really not wanting to sing this song because of it, but I made a promise last time something like this happened that I’d play the newest song for you guys no matter what. I intend to keep it.”

Jack nodded, then looked back at his friends on stage. They each put down their instruments – minus Emma – and walked off stage, giving him a pat on the back. 

“Meet you backstage when you’re done dude.” Markus said, handing him an acoustic guitar and taking Jack’s electric one from his shoulder.

Jack nodded briefly. 

Markus finally walked off and Emma began to play a light, yet somehow sad melody on her piano off to the side of the stage. It struck a chord somewhere in the immortal dragon, making his inner beast stir unlike when any of the other music had been playing. He pushed himself up to the very front of the crowd – noticing faintly in the back of his mind that the four monks had finally noticed and followed after him.

Jack let go of a deep breath and began to strum out a chord to match with Emma’s.

“And I'd give up forever to touch you, 'Cause I know that you feel me somehow. You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be, And I don't want to go home right now.” Jack kept his eyes closed, moving his head to face downwards onto the mic as he sang much softer than he had before. “And all I can taste is this moment. And all I can breathe is your life, 'Cause sooner or later it's over. I just don't want to miss you tonight.”

“And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's meant to be broken - I just want you to know who I am. And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming. Or the moment of truth in your lies. When everything feels like the movies - Yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive. And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's meant to be broken - I just want you to know who I am.”

Jack opened his eyes after singing the first couple of verses to the song, looking out into the crowd. He knew that if Chase Young was here, then the monks must be here as well. His crimson eyes finally landed on one of them, and he stuck to looking at Clay as he tried to ignore the burning stares of everyone else in the room. Clay’s deep blue orbs were oddly calming to the gothic teen as he sang his heart out onto his sleeve.

“And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's meant to be broken - I just want you to know who I am. And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's meant to be broken - I just want you to know who I am.” 

Whispering the last part softly, Jack conducted his final stroke of the guitar, closing his eyes and letting Emma close it out for the two of them. 

“I just want you to know who I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I started writing this about three-ish??? years ago, back when I got my first flash drive and was just starting to remember watching this show on Saturday mornings and before I would head off to school. I had always enjoyed Jack and Chase-centric episodes of the show for some reason. But I especially enjoyed the mostly Jack centered episodes. Later on once I REALLY got into fanfic, I discovered that Jack was quite literally the MOST shippable character out of the entire show and fell in love with my childhood all over again. This was the result of reading countless fanfics and being deeply into edgy bands/music and having a crazy dream one night.


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